Faith in action (Eph. 6:1-9)

Imagine that Christianity suddenly becomes illegal, and you are put on trial for your faith.  Now these people who are trying you know that Christianity is not merely a personal religion, it is a relational faith.  They know that if you truly love Jesus it will show in how you treat other people.

Now you are not allowed speak in your defence.  It is those who know you best that are asked to present the evidence.

So, they go to your workplace, and they ask a very perceptive question: ‘is your gentleness evident to all’ (Phil. 4:5)?  Then they go to where you live and start asking your neighbours, ‘do you love them the way you love yourself’ (Matthew 12:31)?  Finally, they call together your family circle, ‘do you put your religion into practice by caring for your family’ (1 Tim. 5:4)?

After they have interviewed these groups of people, is there enough evidence to prove that your life has been transformed by the love of Jesus?

This morning I want to plead with you.  I want to plead with you as we look at four sets of relationships—children to parents, fathers to children, slaves to masters and masters to slaves.  ‘Can we be consistent?’  Can we love people because we have experienced Jesus’ love?  Can we love all people?  Can we be as considerate to the person behind the counter as we are to our boss?  Can we please remember that while no one else may know about our feelings towards other people, God sees everything?

1.       Children—obey your parents to show the world that you love Jesus? (1-3)

Notice that in all four relationships mentioned in these verses there is a reference to ‘the Lord’.  Children, you are to obey your parents, ‘in the Lord’.  You don’t just obey them because you love them, you are to obey them because you love Jesus.

It is noteworthy that the apostle Paul addresses children rather than just sons.  It that society girls were not valued.  They didn’t receive the same level of instruction.  However, Christianity reminds the world that though there are self-evident differences between the genders, there is equality in both our being created in God’s image and being rescued in God’s son.

It is so important that children obey their parents (both mother and father) that this command was included among the Ten Commandments.  This is a command with a promise: ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’

Of course, this is not an absolute promise.  There are faithful children who die in tragic accidents.  It is a general promise.  You see your parents know what is best for you.  They don’t always get it right, but they do have more experience than you.  When you were an infant they shouted ‘don’t touch’ when you were about to put your hand on something hot.  Now they may say ‘be careful not your friends influence you towards harm.’  They may teach you that it is important to work hard and serve others.  Sometimes the most loving thing that they will say to you is ‘no!’

2.      Fathers—do not provoke your children to anger (4)

I prefer the translation that speaks of provoking to anger than the lesser word exasperate.  You might exasperate your children with how weak your dad jokes are or how embarrassing your sense of fashion, but this is more than that.  This is literally acting in a way that unnecessarily angers your children.

I think that it is important for our culture that fathers are mentioned here.  We live in a society that plays down the role of fathers.  Fathers and mothers have unique and complimentary roles to play in the raising of children.  Of course, there are many painful situations where a parent has to raise their children on their own, but society should aim at a situation where children are being raised by both a mother and a father.

The role of fathers is particularly noted in the passing on of faith between the generations.  I have a book at home called ‘The Faith of the Fatherless’.  In it the author looks at how the faith of many atheists was shaped by absent, weak or harsh father-figures.  It also looms at how the faith of many leading Christians was shaped by consistent and loving father-figures.

Fathers, your life influences what you children thing when they are told that God is our Father.  You are to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  The family is a little church, and you have been given the responsibility of lead pastor.  You biggest responsibility is to live and teach about how the cross of Jesus affects everything.

But there is a danger of exasperation or angering your children.  Bible commentator, Kent Hughes lists four ways that fathers commonly anger their children: unreasonableness, fault-finding, neglect and inconsistency.  If you can be pleased with what they do they will become disheartened.  Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mount Everest but his son latter said that he would have much preferred to have a father that was at home more.  Sometimes because we feel more competent at work than at home we are tempted to be more ambitious for our work life that our home life.  You need to remember that when you say ‘yes’ to an extra work or church commitment you may be saying ‘no’ to time with your children.  Make sure that you have prayerfully thought that through.

3.      Slaves—our loving master sees everything (5-8)

When we hear about slaves in the New Testament it is not helpful to imagine the African slave-trade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  Slavery in the Roman world was far more humane.  It was not based on race, or even social class.  Few died as slaves for they could purchase their freedom.  About a half of slaves were freed before they were thirty.  A slave could be a manager or a doctor. 

People ended up slaves by birth, because their parents sold them into slavery, in order to pay off debts or even to improve their lot in life.  This is not to say that slavery was not evil.  The church had good news for slaves.  They were to be treated as equals in the church.  The church did not have the influence to end slavery in the Roman world, nor was that they most important item on their agenda.  However, the logic of the gospel would eventually led to people like William Wilberforce and John Newton toppling the slave trade in their time.

We should not be naïve about our own culpability in the modern slave trade.  The chocolate industry has long been associated with slave labour.  The fashion industry with sweat shops.  If you want to show your concern about slavery then learn how to be an ethical consumer.

What the apostle Paul says to slaves here could be our guiding principle for all workers.  Who are we trying to please?  Do we only work when our boss is watching us?  Do we realise that being a good employee is actually a form of worship to our God?  Notice that whether you are the master or slave, the employee or employer, God will reward you for honest work.

That is so gracious of God.  He owes us nothing.  He rescued us when we wanted nothing to do with Him.  He is the one who has given us a heart that wants to please Him.  We serve Him imperfectly.  Yet when we serve him he delights to reward us for what we do.  There is a present joy in living for Jesus and an eternal reward that awaits us.  Jacob messaged me a number of weeks ago to mention a text that was encouraging him.  ‘God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for serving the saints, as you still do’ (Heb. 6:10).  Your employer may show little interest in how you work and may never express appreciation to you.  But your heavenly master sees it all!

4.       Masters—obey the golden rule

Masters, do the same to them.  The golden rule of Jesus is that we are to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  Well here the apostle Paul gives us the managerial golden rule—you are to respect your employees the same way you demand that they respect you.

We might not be the boss of any company but every day people serve us.  There are the waiters and shop assistants.  We might have authority over someone by being their teacher or project manager.  How do you treat the sales person who calls to the door or rings on the phone?  Jesus is watching!  Is our gentleness evident to all in these situations?  Do we treat people with respect?  Are we sincere?  If someone serving you found out that you are a Christian, would your behaviour make Jesus attractive to them.

Remember that God shows no favouritism.  He is not influenced by how high up the pecking order you are, and he is not put off because other people think you are a nobody.  I love the Proverb that says, ‘whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but those who are kind to the needy honour God’ (Prov. 14:31).

Conclusion

All that Jesus asks us to do is to respond to His grace and be empower by the person of the Holy Spirit.  At the beginning of chapter four we had a ‘therefore’.  Given that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ we are to love a life worthy of the calling we have received.

Jesus laid down His life for us.  He has forgiven our failings as parents (and I know that we all feel inadequate for that task).  He had forgiven our harsh words spoken to many.  He has forgiven the fact that we are often people-pleasers rather than God-pleasers.  Jesus died for these sins.

Jesus also models how we are to live.  He obeyed His heavenly Father.  He invites us to enjoy the Father-heart of God (maybe you have a father-wound).  He came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  He is gentle and lowly of heart.

Finally, this letter tells us that we have received the person of the Holy Spirit.  I don’t have it within me to be a consistent son, a selfless father, to do my job seeking to please God rather than people and to treat those who serve me with respect.  But God calls us to go on being filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us.  Give up depending on your own strength.  Humble yourselves.  Ask Him to change you in a way that you cannot change yourself.  Then when they ask you family, neighbours and workmates, ‘was his gentleness event to all?’ They will reply, ‘all the evidence showed His love for Jesus!’

  

‘Walk in Love’ (Ephesians 5:1-21)

 

The week before last, I read a brilliant book on the Rise and Fall of Christianity in Ireland.  The concluding chapter detailed the sexual scandals that ruined the credibility of the Catholic church. 

The author began with Father Michael Cleary, a celebrity priest who had two number one albums, and who sang for the crowds in Galway during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979.  Michael Cleary’s secret didn’t emerge until after his death in 1993.  He had been sleeping with his house-keeper and had a son with her.

Then there was Eamon Casey, the former bishop of Galway.  He had a son with an American woman, Annie Murphy, and he had treated her with appalling arrogance.  He tried to get Annie Murphy to put up the child for adoption, in order to hide the scandal.  He fraudulently used diocesan funds to pay for the upkeep of his son.    

But these scandals were nothing compared to what would come.  There was Father Brendan Smyth, who was a serial abuser.  The news about him actually brought down the government of Albert Reynolds, when it was shown that they had delayed an extradition warrant to bring Smyth from the North to the Republic.

All these scandals led to the Ferns (2005), Ryan (2009) and Murphy (2009).  How could the Catholic church say anything about the same-sex marriage referendum on 2015 when it had lost all its moral credibility? 

The church had sought to protect their witness by silencing victims, but when the darkness was exposed it was very dark.

In order to walk as light in this evil world we need to shine.  But how do we shine?

We shine as we remember that we are loved (1-2)

Last week, Edwin spoke to us about talking off and putting on.  We are to talk off our old self, with its corrupting desires, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God.  We are to be imitators of God as beloved children (1).

Are you reminding yourself each day about how much God loves you?

Remember Jesus’ story of the prodigal son.  The younger son came to his senses and set out for home.  He found out that living for yourself alone always leads to a pigsty.  He rehearsed his speech.  ‘Father, I have sinned and against heaven and before, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.  Treat me as one of your hired servants.’  But then, when he saw the father run to meet him, and experienced the father’s embrace and kisses, he said, ‘father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  There was no mention of being a hired servant.  He released that the father wanted a son, not a hired man.

If you are finding it hard to be motivated for shining then remember how much you are loved.  The best place to look is to the cross.  Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (2).  The cross shows us how much God loves us.  The cross sets the example of how we are to love each other.

We shine as we live in purity (3-7)

Ephesus was a very sexualised society.  The worship of that city centred on the temple of Diana, who was a multi-breasted goddess.

What is the relationship between walking in love and striving for purity?  Well lust objectifies people.  It uses people.  It treats them as an object.  It is not compatible with love for people.

Neither is lust compatible with love for God.  Lust wants what does not belong to us.  It wants someone else’s wife.  It covets someone else’s husband.  Such coveting is idolatry because it places our hopes on dreams on something other than what God permits.  It says, ‘if I had him or her then I would be finally happy.’  No, you would not!  The way to counter such covetous lust is through thanksgiving.  Remember all the good gifts that God has given us!

The word translated ‘sexual impurity’ has content.  It is not some vague idea that we can define as we like.  It referred to all sexual activity outside of the marriage of a man and a woman.

In our day people want to redefine what sexual immorality means.  They might say that sex is good between any adults who love and are committed to each other.  But such a cavalier attitude towards what the Bible teaches about sex is very dangerous.  It is messing with people’s eternal destiny.  For everyone who is sexually immoral or impure has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God (5).  Don’t be deceived by those who call themselves progressive for it is because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (6).  Do not be partners with them (7).  This is not saying that you should not have non-believing friends, but let no one influence you towards sexual impurity, including with their humour.

But what about our own sexual impurity?  This is not a reference to those who have a past or who struggle with lust.  We need to remember too that none of us is yet perfected and that we deceive ourselves if we say we are without sin.  The man who may be struggling with porn or who finds it so hard not to look at women lustfully needs to find people in the church who are gracious and supportive.  The woman who thinks that life would be easier if she was married to another man, needs to be encouraged not to covet.  But if we think that what we do with our bodies does not matter to God, or that you can make up your own rules for sexual practice, then it probably means that you have not been born again.

We shine as speak in grace and truth (8-14)

I was in the gym a couple of years ago and some older men were talking dirty.  I kind of wanted to warn them that their words were storing up wrath for themselves on the day of God’s judgement (Romans 2:5).

Part of walking in the light involves exposing the darkness (11).  Of course, if our lives don’t point to purity, then how can we point to the light.  I had a man once tell me that his girlfriend needed to become a Christian, but how can she know what a life of repentance looks like while he was sleeping with her?

We cry out to a sexually sinful world: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you’ (14).  What a wonderful promise that that God transforms children of the darkness into children of light.  It is important to point out that God forgives sexual sin.  We must forgive those with public sexual histories, and no longer remind them of what they did.  There can be no place for gossip concerning people’s past.

As children of the light we want to model purity and grace.  Our witness isn’t helped by covering over our failings.  We point to a saviour whose blood goes on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7).  But we also speak of a God who has a better way than the way of using people and being used by people.

We shine as we go on being filled with the Spirit (15-21)

We are literally told to go on being filled with the Spirit (17).  Being filled with the Spirit is contrasted with being drunk on wine.  When someone is drunk, it is the alcohol that is affecting their whole being.  In the same way we are to let God’s Holy Spirit control us.

Look at what happens when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  We address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord in our hearts (19).  Singing is a way of reminding ourselves of all that God has done for us.  It gives us an opportunity to thank and praise him for his grace.  But it is not just about us and God.  Singing is one of the many ‘one another’ commands of the New Testament.  It is one of the ways that we encourage each other and build each other up.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit leads to thanksgiving (20), and causes us to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (21). 

Being filled with the Holy Spirit causes us to enjoy the Cross-Centred Life.  We sing about what Jesus has done of the cross.  We thank God for what Jesus has done for us on the cross.  And we follow the example of Christ on the cross, as he laid down his life for those he loves.

Conclusion—glow!

I mentioned at the start of this sermon the book about the rise and fall of Christianity in Ireland.  The writer felt that the churches, both Catholic and Protestant had not served Ireland well.  This was because the churches often sought political influence and failed to show that we belong to a kingdom not of this world.  How will we show this world a better way if that world can not see that we are light?

There was a man who bought his wife a matchbox that glowed in the dark.  However, when they got into bed at night it made no light.  It didn’t glow.  Then the wife noticed that there was an instruction in French on the box.  She got a friend to translate it for her.  It read, ‘if you want this box to glow in the dark then you need to keep it in the light.’

How do we allow the light of Christ cause us to shine?  We shine as we remember that we are loved.  We shine as we strive to live in purity.  We shine as we speak of truth and grace.  We shine as we keep on being filled by the Holy Spirit. 

Ephesians 2:11-22 ‘Church is essential’

 

On one occasion when Melvin was on a visit to Cape Town he was invited to preach at a little church in the black township of Lavender Hill.  Despite the beautiful name this was a socially deprived place.  It was so deprived that one day they found a decapitated body on the doorstep of their building.  But the amazing thing is that this church had accepted a white Afrikaans man, to be their vicar.  This man had in fact being a leading member of the National Party, who were the architects of apartheid.  There was a time when he would not have even shared the pavement with a black person.  But God had changed his heart.  Before church he travels in a battered old minibus picking up old women who can’t make it to church by themselves.  His love for Christ meant that he wanted to serve those who he had formally hated.  More amazingly, the love of this black congregation for Christ meant that they were willing to let a former white bigot be their pastor.

Church can be a beautiful thing when old enemies become brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church only exists because of grace (11-13)

Therefore, remember.  Given that you were once dead in transgressions and sin, following the ways of the world, following prince of the power of the air and satisfying the passions of the sinful nature, don’t forget what God has done for you.  You have been brought near to Christ by the blood of the Christ.  What do you feel when you remember who you used to be and who you are now?  Remember that the blood of Jesus goes on cleansing us from all sin (1 John 1:7), so how do you look back on those sins you have committed as a Christian? 

You are not to look back on your past with a feeling of guilt, because there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  You are not to look back on your past with regret, because godly sorrow leaves no room for regret (2 Corinthians 7:10).  You are not to be imprisoned by thoughts of who you were and what you have done, because you are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  But you are to look back with a sense of thanksgiving, praise and humility. 

Look at what God has done for sinful people like us!  Isn’t He wonderful.  Paul marvels that he, a former persecutor of the church, who considers himself the very least of all God’s people, has been the given the privilege of preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8).  Even your messed-up past is not beyond the redeeming plans of God for you, and now by the grace of God you are what you are (1 Corinthians 15:10), and that grace can work powerfully in you (Colossians 1:29).

Paul is addressing Christians who had come from a Gentile (non-Jewish) background.  They were called ‘the uncircumcised’ by the Jews.  That was a term of derision.  Notice that Paul calls the Jews ‘the circumcised, which is made in the flesh by hands’ (11).  Circumcision was the covenant sign in the Old Testament.  But as an act of human hands it did not save you.  You needed the work of God to save you.  Similarly, today we have some baptisms.  But these acts of human hands do not save you.  There is no magic in the water.  What saves you is God’s grace which came as you put your faith (or trust) in Him.  Baptism pictures that you have died to your old way of life, and raised with Christ and so have had your sins washed away.

The gentiles had the disadvantage of being separate from the community in which God was working in the Old Testament.  They were not part of the Old Testament’s covenant people, Israel.  They weren’t hearing about God’s covenant and promises.  In sum, they were separate from Christ, without hope, and without God in the world.  However, then we come to another big ‘but’, ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Jesus’ (13).

There was an old Latin proverb that says, ‘nothing ages quicker than gratitude’, Don’t stop thanking God for what He has done for you.  Whether He has saved you from a background of smug self-righteousness, and respectable sins like pride, or whether he has saved you from a background of more open and public sin.  Remember the church of God’s ‘saints’ only exists because of grace.

Church should be multicultural (14-18)

There used to be a principle among church growth gurus called the ‘homogenous unit principle’.  The idea was that churches grow faster by targeting a particular group of people and then creating the sort of community that they will be comfortable with.  You don’t ask people to cross cultural, ethnic or other boundaries.  If you want to attract middle age Irish men, you create the sort of community middle age Irish men like.  That principle might gather a crowd, but it will not encourage spiritual depth.  It is certainly not what Ephesians teaches us that the church should be.

Now Jews and Gentiles hated each other in the first century.  If you were going to operate the ‘homogenous unit principle’ of church growth you could have planted separate churches for those who had been saved from a Jewish background and those saved from a Gentile background.  That would have certainly been easier for people.  But it would have denied the beautiful truth that Christ is our peace (14).

Christ has abolished the law of commands to reconcile Jews and Gentiles.  The Law of Moses had many commandments that served to separate the Israel from the other nations.  His purpose was to create one new man out of two (15).  There was even a point in the temple in Jerusalem beyond which a Gentile could not go on pain of death.  Whatever your background, we are one person in Jesus, and because of what Jesus has done on the cross, we have access to the Father by one Spirit (18).

We are not an Irish church.  We are a church in Ireland.  We don’t belong to any cultural group, and being a part of any cultural group should not make you feel that you belong more of less to this family.  We live out this vision on an island where there have been deep hostilities between Catholics and Protestants, and where as a nation we have been slow to let go our grievances about the past.  We now live in a country that is being blessed by having many migrants come to these shores.  We should be glad that we have over twenty-five countries represented in our church community.  What a wonderful opportunity to show how our God creates a multi-ethnic person in Christ!

Church is essential (19-22)

During the lockdown there were those who were pointing out that church is essential.  Church is essential.  But I am not talking here about whether we have to meet in person or can have church on Zoom.  I am saying that church is essential because every person who becomes a Christian is joined to the church.  The church in Ephesians refers to the global body of Christ, but that body meets in local fellowships, of which we are one.

As Christians we are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household (19).  Whether or not you are a part of the membership list of this church, if you are born again you are a member of God’s church.  If this is the local church that are committed to serving, then you are a member of this local church.

Paul uses the metaphor of a building.  But remember that this is a metaphor.  Church is not a building that you go to, but it is like a building—the household of God.  It is a building that is built of the foundation of the apostles and prophets (20).  Remember that in the book of Acts we see that the early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42).  We have the teaching of those apostles in our Bible.  Christ Jesus is the chief-cornerstone.  In fact, we are to preach Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23).

Christians are being joined together.  Christians are a part of a church community.  I have heard people say things like, ‘the forest is my church, it is where I meet God.’  But we don’t become a part of a church to simply meet God, we are a part of a church to walk with His people.  Watching your favourite preacher online is not a substitute for church.  Neither can your small group or Christian Union simply be your church.

Being a part of the church does involve a commitment to our main weekly family gathering, but it is more than that.  How much more than that?  The answer to that is not about a rule for what meetings you are to attend.  It is about the inclination of your heart.  Do you see these people as your family?  Are we carrying one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)?  Do we accept one another (Rom. 15:7)?  Are we forgiving one another (Col. 3:13)?  Are we confessing our sins to one another (James 5;16)?  Are we refraining from grumbling against each other (James 5:9)?  Is our heart apart of the church?

Remember that in Ephesians this church is the whole global body of Christ.  This local church is a part of Christ’s worldwide church.  This global community of Christians is a holy temple to the Lord (22).  We don’t go to a building to meet with God, instead we meet with God’s people and celebrate the fact that he is in our midst (Matthew 18:20).

Notice the emphasis on growth.  We are being joined together (21).  We are being built together (22).  That is because mission is at the centre of what we do.  We are called to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:20).  We want to see God bring more people into this church and we want to plant new churches.  We happen to be a part of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland.  The tag line of Baptist Missions is ‘Proclaiming Christ and Planting Churches.’  We have signed up to being a church planting fellowship.

Conclusion

The church exists because of grace.  Remember that we are a people who are still imperfect (Phil. 3:12).  We are in the process of being made like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18), but we fail to be like him every day.  That means we will let each other down.  But if God does not treat us as our sins deserve but according to His loving kindness (Ps. 103:10), then we need to lean on Him for the grace to forgive and love each other.

The church is multi-ethnic.  It might not be people of different racial groups that you struggle with.  It could simply be just that you struggle with different types of people.  We are all different, and that difference is good.  But that difference can be challenging.  Lean of God for the grace to enjoy each other.

Finally, church is essential.  In the New Testament walking away from the community of the church is linked with walking away from Jesus (see Hebrew 10:25 and 1 John 2:19).  Beware of churches that can’t get on with other churches.  Beware of Christians who can’t find a church good enough for them.  Beware of a shallow commitment to life in the church.  The church is the body of Christ and we need to be connected to it.   

 

 

Good teaching leads to maturity and unity (Ephesians 4:1-16)

There is a terrible story told of a church split that happened many years ago in America.  This split divided the church in two.  The grievances were so deep that that the two sides went to court.  The court threw the case out, so they went to a church arbitration committee.  That committee awarded one side the building and the other side went and formed their own new church.  However, one of the things that the church arbitration committee found out was that the conflict began at a church dinner when one elder received a smaller slice of ham than a child sitting next to him.

Maybe you friends look at how easily evangelical churches fall out with each other as evidence that our gospel doesn’t really change lives.  Our witness depends on our ability to bear with each other.  It matters to Jesus, who prayed that we would be one so that the world would believe that the Father had sent the Son (John 17:21). 

This morning I want us to see how good teaching leads to maturity and unity.

Unity is seen when we bear each other in love (1-3)

In the first three chapters the apostle Paul has told us something of all the spiritual blessings God has given us in Christ.  He chose us before the foundation of the world, because He loves us.  He has revealed His glory through showing us kindness.  This adoption in God is the result of His grace not our merit.  This salvation is received through faith as opposed to personal effort.  It makes people from diverse background one new person in Jesus.  It produces a world-wide church that reflects God’s goodness.

Now, at the beginning of chapter four, we have a ‘therefore’.  Given all that God has done for us in Christ, I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called (1).  God’s kindness prompts a response.  Love shown to us produces love shown from us.

We are called to walk with humility not pride, gentleness not harshness, patience not impatience.  We are to bear one another in love, being eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (3).  When we are arrogance, harsh and impatient we alienate people from us.  When we are humble, gentle and patient we contribute to a loving community.

Bearing with one another is an interesting idea.  It suggests that we wouldn’t always find people easy.  Some people will be a burden to us.  They might have needs that demand our time.  They may have personalities that test our endurance.  They may see things differently than we do.

Sadly, we have all heard of churches that have split because people couldn’t bear each other.  Maybe the young people wanted livelier music and the older wanted a more reverent words to the songs.  The young ones may have had a point when they claimed the older ones lacked enthusiasm.  The older ones may have had a point when they say that some of the new songs are shallow.  But we shouldn’t always demand we get our way, even when we know we are right.  Not everything we believe in is worth fighting for. 

In church growth circles they used to talk about the bus.  The bus was the leaders’ dreams and ambitions for the church.  You were told that you were to get on the bus or you would be left behind.  One leader went so far as to boast that many people would get run over by the bus.  I don’t think the bus picture is one of bearing one another in love.  I am not saying that you do nothing in case you offend those who are overly cautious.  I am saying that there are times that leaders have to feel frustrated when they can’t convince the congregation towards a course of action.

Unity exists whether it is evident or not (4-6)

The unity of God’s people is a fact.  Local churches are a part of the universal body of Christ, even when they don’t like the church down the road.  You are a brother or sister with every other follower of Jesus, even if you don’t like them.  There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (4-6).  You might distance yourself from other Christians you find difficult, but you can’t cut the ligaments that hold you together.

I have often told you that one of my mum’s stated desires is that her three children get on with each other.  If we didn’t like each other that wouldn’t stop us being brothers and sister.  But it would break my mum’s heart.  It pleases our heavenly Father when we bear one another in love.

What a privilege it is to have a Latvian and a Romanian church use this building.  We should be building good relationships with these people.  When our non-believing friends see us with Christians from other evangelical churches they should be able to see that we are spiritual brothers and sisters even though the meet with a different congregation.  It should be obvious that we have infinitely more in common than anything we disagree on.

Unity is a product of good teaching (7-16)

Paul says that we have been given grace as Christ apportioned it (7).  This is not a reference to the grace that saved us but rather the grace that transforms us.  We can’t bear one another in love in our own strength.  We need the enabling that comes through the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit prepares us to bear with one another in love as we are taught God’s Word.  That is why the risen and ascended Jesus gives the church apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers (probably one role not two).

Just in passing, I love the fact that the quote in verse eight, which is from Psalm 68, is applied to Jesus even though it is originally about Yahweh.  You see Paul quotes the Old Testament in a way that acknowledges that Jesus is God the Son.

There is some debate about the role of the apostle and the prophet.  Is this a reference to the founding apostles of the church who were uniquely commissioned by the risen Jesus and operated in the time of the New Testament, or are there modern apostles?  Are the prophets those group of people associated with those New Testament apostles?  I don’t know.  I do know that there are those who are gifted in establishing churches the way the apostles did, and that while all God’s people may prophecy at times there are those who have a settled gift of prophecy.  While there are people gifted as evangelists, we are all commissioned to share our faith.

There are many cultural add-ons to what is expected of pastor-teachers, but we can see that their primary role is that of teaching and prayer.  The result of this teaching is that all God’s people are prepared for works of ministry.  We shouldn’t think in terms of clergy and laity.  We shouldn’t have special people we call ‘minister’.  All God’s people are called to ministry.

The leaders of the church prepare God’s people for works of ministry primarily by teaching them.  Paul sums up his message by telling us that he preaches ‘Christ crucified’ (1 Cor. 1:23).  While the first half of this letter majored on what God has done for us in Jesus, the second half of this letter shows us how we walk in response to that gospel.  We will see that all this walking is shaped by the cross.  We will be called to walk in the light—and the apostle Paul explains that the way to walk in the light is to learn Christ (4:20).  That centres on the cross!  We are to forgive as we have been forgiven (4:32)—and we remember that our forgiveness was purchased on the cross!  Chapter five is all about submitting to one another in love—which involves following the example of Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us on the cross (5:2).  When we look at the last chapter of this letter, and its teaching on spiritual warfare, we will see that we stand firm as we apply the message of the cross to our hearts.

When the message of the cross is applied to our hearts we will grow in unity in the faith (13), increasing knowledge of the Son of God (13), maturity in Christ (13), and growth in character (14).  Indeed, the pastor-teacher is not only to feed the sheep, he is to protect them against false-teachers who will emphasise such odious things as we see in the prosperity-gospel and those unwise builders to would distract you with such things as speculations on end times.  

Conclusion 

In the first half of this letter there is only one command: remember (2:11-12).  Now we are called to walk a life worthy of the calling with which you have been called (4:1)—this verse is really a summary of the whole of the second half of the letter.  Now we are called to ‘make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (4:3).  Are we making that effort?  Do we ask God for the transforming grace that will help us love each other?  Are we seeking to bear one another in love?  Preach the message of the cross to yourself, and listen to the message of the cross, and God will strengthen you through the Holy Spirit so that you can live a life that pleases our loving Father.   

Ephesians 2:1-10 ‘Don’t waste your life1’

John Piper was speaking at a Passion Conference in 2000.  He had just told the story of two women, Ruby and Laura, both in or near their eighties who had spent their lives devoted to serving others, and who died as missionaries in Cameroon.  Their death was not a tragedy he said, because they had given their lives away to something that mattered.  Then he continued, ‘I have got a little article here from Reader’s Digest.  This is a tragedy.  The title of the article, “Start now.  Retire Early!”’

‘Bob and Penny took early retirement from their jobs in the north east five years ago when he was fifty-nine and she was fifty-one.  Now they live in Punto Gorda, Florida where they cruise on their thirty-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells.’

‘That’s a tragedy’, Piper exclaimed, ‘and there are people in this country spending billions of dollars to get you to buy it … With all my heart I plead with you, “Don’t buy that dream”.  The American Dream.  A nice house.  A nice car.  A nice job.  A nice retirement.  Collecting shells, as the last chapter before you stand before the Creator of the Universe to give an account of what you did.  “Here it is Lord, my shell collection!”  Well, not for Ruby and not for Laura.  Don’t waste your life!  Don’t waste it!’

God has prepared works in advance for us to do.  There is no spiritual retirement as long as you can pray, love, speak and listen.

Think about your non-believing friends.  Without Christ they are dead in their transgressions and sins, following the ruler of the kingdom of the air (the devil), gratifying the desires of the sinful nature and deserving God’s wrath.

Think about the good news of what God does for sinful people.  In Christ you have been made alive, you have been saved from condemnation, you are deeply loved by God, you have a glorious eternal future ahead of you, you are God’s masterpiece and God has prepared great works for you to do.

Surely these great works involve going into the world and making disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded (Matt. 28:19-20).  This is a commission that we are to fulfil together. 

We live in the world of the living dead (1-3)

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is not at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh, and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 

John Stott writes, ‘we should not hesitate to reaffirm that a life without God (however physically fit and mentally alert the person may be) is a living death, and that those who live it are dead even while they are living.’

Christianity traditionally speaks of our three great enemies as being the world (that is society rebelling against God), the flesh (meaning our sinful nature) and the devil.  For those who are not yet in Christ, these are actually controlling forces in their existence.

These verses tell us that before we encountered Jesus we followed the thoughts of the world.  People live in an echo chamber where people are told what to believe.  But what they are being told to believe is at variance with what God’s revealed word tells us.  However, don’t be frustrated when they buy into the group thing of our anti-God society.  They don’t have the spiritual ability to reason independently.  Pray for them!

They are dead.  They need a miracle.  Imagine I tell you that we are going to go out with John’s sketch-board to preach the gospel.  You say that you would like to come along and help.  I say, ‘I will meet you at the cemetery.  We are going to preach at those graves and see people come to life.’  You would probably think I am mad. 

It is as mad to think that we can reason with our friends or speak to them on the streets and expect them to become new creatures in Christ without God doing a miracle.  That is why we are called to preach the cross of Christ, because it is the power of God to those being saved (1 Cor. 1:18).  That is why we have to root all our efforts to speak about Jesus in prayer, because we can’t persuade anyone with out own wisdom.  I think that two of our weaknesses as a church are that we are not doing enough in the way of evangelism and we are not praying enough together.  In truth those two things go hand in hand.

God loves ugly people (4-8)

The first three verses of our reading are sobering, but they are not the end of the story.  But God is how verse four actually begins.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love for us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For all eternity, people are going to marvel and praise God for the fact that He saved sinful people like you and me.  They will look at us and say, ‘Isn’t God so kind?’  He has raised us up with Christ Jesus.  We may live among the spiritually dead, but we have been made spiritually alive.  We have been raised with Christ.  There is a sense in which we have participated in His resurrection.  We have new life, which comes with new desires and new loves.  He has seated us in the heavenly realms in Christ—because we are connected to Christ there is a sense in which we are already in heaven.

All this should make us humble.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourself, it is a gift from God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  Becoming a Christian is by grace through faith.  Grace means to be treated not as our sins deserve but according to God’s loving kindness.  Grace is God’s unmerited, unearned and undeserved favour.  Faith is a translation as the word for to believe or to trust.  We simply put our trust in promises of the gospel.  We can’t even boast about our decision to trust God, because dead people don’t exercise faith.  The whole process from beginning to end is a gift from God.

Why does God bring so many spiritually dead people to life in Christ?  He does so because of his great love for us.  God’s glory and God’s love go hand-in-hand.

Don Carson asks us to picture Charles and Susan walking down a beach hand in hand at the end of the academic year.  The pressure has dissipated in the warm evening breeze.  They kicked off their sandals, and the wet sand squishes beneath their toes.  Charles turns to Susan, gazes in her large hazel eyes, and says, ‘Susan, I love you.  I really do.’

Now what does Charles mean?  He may be saying, ‘Susan you are everything to me.  I can’t live without you.  Your smile knocks me out from fifty metres.  Your sparkling good humour, your beautiful eyes, the scent of your hair – everything about you transfixes me.  I love you!’

What he most certainly doesn’t mean is, ‘Susan, quite frankly you have such as bad case of halitosis it would embarrass a herd of unwashed, garlic-eating elephants.  Your nose is so bulbous you belong in the cartoons.  Your hair is so greasy it could lubricate an eighteen-wheeler.  Your knees are so disjointed you make a camel look elegant.  Your personality makes Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan look like wimps.  But I love you!’

Carson then asks what God means when he says he loves us.  He does not mean, ‘You are everything to me.  I can’t live without you.  Your personality, your witty conversation, your beauty, your smile –everything about you transfixes me.  Heaven would be boring without you.  I love you!’  That is not what He means, no matter what sort of therapeutic god people present you with, or ‘Jesus is my girlfriend’ songs they sing.

What God says to us when He says that He loves us, Carson explains, is, ‘morally speaking, you are the people of the halitosis, the bulbous nose, the greasy hair, the disjointed knees, the abominable personality.  Your sins have made you disgustingly ugly.  But I love you anyway, not because you are attractive, but because it is my nature to love.’  He says to us, ‘I have set my affection on you from before the foundation of the universe, not because you are wiser or better or stronger than others but because in grace I chose to love you.  You are mine, and you will be transformed.  Nothing in all creation can separate you from my love mediated through Jesus Christ.’  His love is all about His greatness and nothing to do with our worth.

God has made us for a new way of walking (10)

In verse two we saw that before we were raised to life in Christ we ‘walked’ (literal translation) in the ways of the world, and following the prince of the air and living for the passions of our sinful nature.  Now we read that we are ‘to walk’ (literal translation), in the good works that God prepared for us beforehand to do.  We have not been saved by good works, but we have been saved for good works.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  The Greek word translated ‘handiwork’ meant a work of art.  It could refer to a statue or song or poem or painting.  We are God’s masterpiece.  This is true of you as an individual Christian for you have been washed in Christ and now have His Spirit within you.  This is true of the church, as His radiant bride.  He has prepared works in advance for us to do as individual Christians, and He has prepared for us to do together. 

Conclusion:

Do you remember Bob and Penny, with their early retirement and their mission to collect sea shells?  God has saved us for more than that.  Are you never struck by how pointless everything can seem?  What does anything matter if we are all heading for the grave?  Who cares about our collection of sea shells?

We were dead in our transgressions and sins but we have been raised to life in Christ.  We should be the most grateful and humble people, because all this came through God’s loving grace.  And He has called us to a new way of walking.  Don’t waste your life!